Small steps can make positive changes. Is is time to change the batteries in smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors. Tragically, home fires kill 500 children ages 14 and under each year.

In the U.S., almost two-thirds of home fire deaths resulted from fires in homes without working smoke alarms. Forty percent of the fatal fire injuries occurred in homes with no smoke alarms at all, while 23% occurred in homes in which at least one smoke alarm was present but failed to operate.

The Berthoud Fire Protection District is participating in a national home fire safety campaign called Change Your Clock Change Your Battery®. Sponsored by Energizer, our fire department, and the International Association of Fire Chiefs, the program urges Americans to adopt a life-saving habit: changing smoke alarm batteries when clocks are changed back from daylight-saving time each fall. This year’s time change occurs on Sunday, November 6.

We also want to take this time to remind citizens to change the batteries in their carbon monoxide detectors.

We need to remind community residents of the importance of installing new batteries in their smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors to ensure they are working in case of a fire and to prevent accidental carbon monoxide poisoning.